


The Tempus Looking Glass

by petalSpitter



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Day Out Fic, Fluff, Gen, Minor Spoilers, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Tooth Rotting Fluff, at first
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-12-15
Updated: 2017-01-03
Packaged: 2018-09-08 16:47:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,505
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8852644
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/petalSpitter/pseuds/petalSpitter
Summary: It's just a simple fetch quest, but The Director decides to turn it into a day planetside with her favorite Bureau member. But could this simple quest turn into something much more challenging? Or even terrifying?





	1. Chapter 1

It had been just another day on the moonbase. Tres Horny Boys were fucking something up (today it was a food fight so massive the cafeteria had to be shut down) Carey and Killian were training and flirting in the dojo and Johann was writing a new composition for the Voidfish to eat. (Recently, Avi had started joining Johann in the Voidfish’s chambers. With only three official reclaimers in the entire Bureau much fewer people were headed planetside these days. Avi mainly just repeatedly requested Johann play Wonderwall and tried to get the bard to sample whatever bathtub hooch he’d brewed this week.)

The Director was knitting outside, taking the rare break from being cooped up inside managing the Bureau of Balance’s finances and day to day operations to finish up a shawl she’d begun years ago... At least, that was her plan.

“Director! You gotta come see this!” Avi runs up to the director, eliciting a groan from the woman as she put down the project she was so close to finishing.

“Yes?” She rises, grabbing her knitting bag and staff.

“Two of our seekers in Pruina located an object of interest to the Bureau, but they...” He trails off.

“But?” The Director raises an eyebrow, sure she’s not going to like what she hears next.

“But before they could buy the mirror from a local shop and get out of Pruina they sort of...” Avi pulls out  a beaten up letter, reading over it a couple times before trying to summarize the tale. “Accidentally... Married a duchess to a mule, turned all the snowfall into blue roses, transmuted city hall into rose quartz-which was fine until it collapsed with all the local government trapped inside- and started a riot over the last bottle of wine in town.”

Avi looked up from the letter to see The Director giving him the most lethal glare he’d ever seen. “Are you sure most of that was accidental?”

“Well, the blue roses were done on a dare but everything else sounds like it was an accident.”

“Are you _sure_ it wasn’t the usual three down there?”

“I’m sure. They were-”

“If it’s worse than a floral apocalypse, I don’t want to hear it.”

“You definitely don’t want to hear it.”

The Director let out an exasperated sigh, then began walking towards her office. “So what’s the issue, Avi?”

“We’re short on reclaimers to ...well _reclaim_ the mirror.”

“How in the world are we-” The Director stops dead in her tracks when the cafeteria comes into view; every single window broken and every door thrown open by bloated masses of food oozing out of the building. The Tres Horny Boys were laughing madly and high fiving as they admired their handiwork, and dozens of Bureau workers shot them dirty looks as they struggled to shovel away the literal avalanches of spaghetti and meatloaf.

“Nevermind.” The Director does her best not to look at the cafeteria as they continue walking, reaching her office. “I suppose I can go planetside; it’s just a simple fetch quest. If Angus comes along he can be my squire. Prepare a bubble for us, would you, Avi?”

“Can do, Director.” Avi nods and peels away, taking a swig of homemade cherry-honey whiskey.

“Thank you.” The Director says a quick goodbye and starts walking towards Angus’s dorm room. An image of the boy bundled up tightly and holding her staff with an exuberant grin pops into her head and she smiles softly. Maybe this could be a nice outing and bonding opportunity. Maybe. Riots and collapsed buildings took a while to recover from but the candy store could still have its doors open. She reaches the door and raps her staff against it, leaning close. “Angus? Are you in there?”

Within fractions of a second the door flings itself open and the boy is standing in the doorway in an oversized nightgown. His glasses are askew, left knee scraped and the corresponding kneesock sagging. He has one wand in one hand and another tucked behind his ear, and a book on advanced transmutation tucked under his arm. “Yes?”

The Director kneels and casts a minor healing spell on him. “Would you like to go on a trip with me?”

Anugs’s eyes light up and he breaks into a huge, goofy grin, bouncing up and down as he chanted “Yes! Yes yes yes! Oh yes please I’d love to go on a trip with you! Where’re we going?! When are we going?! I have a lesson with Taako this evening should I tell him I have to reschedule or-”

“We’re going to Pruina. Within the hour. And no, you shouldn’t have to reschedule. It’s just a quick pickup. But it is a very snowy place this time of year, so bundle up, dear.” Angus eagerly absorbs her words, nodding excitedly and rushing around his room as soon as she’s done speaking, begging her to watch as he uses mage hand to collect long pants, fuzzy socks, sweaters, a thick winter coat, scarves, mittens, a skirt that looked like it’d been raided from Taako’s closet, and earmuffs. “I’m getting really good at it, too!”

“Don’t burn all your spell slots, Angus, you might want to show off once we’re planetside.” She peeks into the room and watches him with a smile, only to be ousted once he starts changing.

“Don't watch! Go away! I’ve gotta get dressed!” He tries to push her out, barely moving the elder woman.

“Alright, alright. Don’t forget, meet me at the port at 9:00 sharp.” She turns to leave, ruffling his hair before closing the door behind her. The woman’s own bedroom was quite a trek away, leaving her only a few minutes to dig through her closet and break out her old winter gear. Most of it hadn’t seen the light of day since a mission years ago when she had to battle an ice lich to retrieve an old man’s lost wand in exchange for magic lessons. None of it fit quite the same way as it did before, but would be good enough for a quick day trip to the snowy town. As she was reaching up for her snowboots, a hard, flat cloth-wrapped package slides off the upper shelf and she barely jumps back in time to avoid getting her feet sliced up. “What in the-?” She kneels and unwraps the package, expression softening. “Oh. I’ve been looking for these old things.”

She recognized the panes of glass as some ambitious painter’s experiment. They were meant to permanently capture whatever was on them when someone uttered a magic word. The painter said they were sick of standing out in the wind and rain to paint but they needed a reference, and wished they could just bring pictures of the weather into their safe and cozy studio. Based off what was scrawled on the packaging, she guessed the magic word was ‘cheese’. She got an idea.

At exactly 8:59 Angus ran up to the port, sweating from how warmly dressed he was and lugging a bulging bag. “Hey! I hope I’m not late! I had a hard time picking which books to take!” The boy turned the corner to find The Director and Avi chatting over some panes of glass, and promptly wonders what on the moon is going on. “What’re those, Lu- Director?”

She purses her lips at his slip-up, but doesn’t comment. The Director takes one of the panes and displays it to him. “It’s some artist’s experiment. They called them ‘instant portrait panes’. I figured we could test them on ourselves before leaving. I’ve been meaning to use these things anyway.”

“That sounds like a great idea!” Angus pulls off his glasses, wiping some sweat off his forehead before standing beside her, Avi stepping away and holding up the pane. When the pair is perfectly framed by the glass he says ‘cheese’ and an image is permanently etched onto it.

“Looks like they weren’t kidding. It works.” Avi shakes the glass, the two bundled up Bureau members still smiling on the pane. “Wonder why this didn’t take off.”

“Maybe they’re dead. Or unpopular.” Angus interjects, earning a look from The Director.

“I’m sure there’s a less morbid reason why it didn’t take off. Let’s get in the bubble, shall we, Angus?” She turns and gets inside the craft, followed shortly by the boy. “We’re going to have a lovely day down in Pruina. I hear the entire town is a hub for craftsman and culinary masters. Though they can be rather cold.” She doesn’t realize she’s made a pun until Angus breaks out into laughter.


	2. Chapter 2

The trip down to the planet is rather long and both party members take advantage of the minor respite. Lucretia has more than enough time to complete and don her shawl and Angus gives himself a headache trying to read a level nine spellbook. The trip ends up overstaying its welcome and when they finally land and get a chance to stretch their legs, neither party complains. (Lucretia’s back does a little, but that’s the price of middle age.)

“Isn’t this exciting, Angus?” She looks down at him and his dumbfounded expression, eyes wide behind his massive eyeglass lenses and jaw slack at the grandly carved and painted arch welcoming visitors to Prunia. The faint smell of ginger, sugar, nutmeg and burning wood drifted out from beyond the gates, though the smell of ice and evergreen all around them overpowered it with ease.”I’ll take that as a ‘yes’. She can’t help but crack a smile at his awe, taking his hand and walking into the village.

One thing was for sure, the homeowner’s association must have been strict as hell. Each building on main street and all the homes beyond fit the town’s wintery aesthetic to a T, with each building painted various shades of brown, red, or green to stand out against the snow. Buttery light pooled out of every window and every door as it opened and closed, a contrast to the cool light outside. Oddly enough, blue roses and rose petals were mixed in with the snow, churned by dozens of feet and wagon wheels, and where one would expect a city hall with a grand clock tower was a massive pile of pink stone with a light dusting of snow over it.

“Oh, so _that’s_ why Sardusky and Husk are probably getting teleported into the sun.” Angus perks up, holding Lucretia’s hand as they walked along the side of the road.

“How did you-?”

“Well, Avi was in shock right after they came back, and it _couldn’t_ have been Taako, Merle, and Magnus because they’ve been on the base this whole time. Plus while I was running to the port I overheard some gossip about how human resources were going to deal with ‘those two’, and it was easy to put together once I remembered Husk was the one who grew the rose garden in one night when they were really drunk.”

“Ah.” Lucretia nods as he explains, remembering how much of a pain in the ass his detective skills were before they recruited him.They still could be, when he ended up trying to solve a rather private mystery.

They turn to enter the bakery and are instantly overwhelmed by the smell of baking bread, burning wood, and spices. The roaring fire in the corner and the yellow light of candles and lanterns adding to the cozy feeling of the bakery while the heavily bundled tourists softly chatter and eat at tables set for two. “See anything you like, child?” Lucretia looked at the spot where Angus was a few seconds ago to see nothing but empty air, as Angus had already flung himself against the glass of the display case. His eyes were wide at the sight of all the finely crafted cakes, macaroons, cinnamon rolls, cookies, and candies. It took all of his prepubescent willpower to not just say he wanted the entire store. Angus turned to Lucretia with an expectant look, wondering when she’d give him some budget or limit.

“I think you deserve some spoiling. Pick anything you like.” The woman can’t help but smile at the delight on his face, and in seconds he’s already picking out sweets for a burly baker to package. Lucretia stands back and watches, remembering her own childhood and the trips her family made to the bakery. She and her siblings were only allowed one treat each, but then again they could spoil themselves much more often than Angus ever could. By the time the child was satisfied with his purchase the bakery counter was buried under dozens of boxes of confections and the baker had to walk around to hand Angus a bag filled to bursting with candies. Angus eats a candy right out of the bag then tied it around his belt so he can snack throughout the day. Lucretia visibly paled as she counted out all the gold coins for the purchase, and muttered that she should have brought Davenport. And a covered wagon.

“Angus... how exactly do you plan to carry this all back?” She handed the baker the last golden coin and put away her now very light coin purse.

“I’ll just put it in my bag!”

“But it’s filled to bursting I don’t think that’s-”

Angus set his book bag on the ground and asked the baker to shove all the boxes off the counter. They oblige, and every single box manages to land in the bag’s wide open mouth. Each and every one of them fits perfectly inside with room to spare.

“...I see. Where did you even get the money for a bag of holding?”

“Taako is rich and inattentive and sold my grandfather’s prized silverware for kicks. He can buy it back whether he knows he’s doing it or not.” Angus shoots Lucretia a glowing, shit eating grin, and the baker behind the counter lets out a restrained huff of laughter. The woman is torn between being a proper authority figure and telling him stealing is bad, and being someone who knows Taako and patting him on the head and telling him ‘good job’.

“Stealing is bad.” She pats him on the head. “Let's do some window shopping, shall we? There’s a certain store I've got to stop by.” The pair leave the warm bakery and are smacked by the cold air outside. Children are shoveling the sidewalks for a quick buck and yanking roses out of the snow, whispering among themselves about how to turn the frozen flora into cash. Angus looks at the groups of friends with a glint of envy before turning back to Lucretia and the brightly lit store windows. He stops in front of a shop displaying dresses, staring at a red number that he could easily see in Taako’s closet. It couldn't hurt to get his Candlenights shopping out of the early, could it?

Lucretia looks at the same dress and kneels down, whispering to him. “I don't think that will fit either of us.” Lucretia was far too broad to fit into the slenderly cut dress; and though Angus was small enough (his limbs resembled sticks in a way children shouldn’t resemble sticks), the thing would have pooled at his feet and trailed behind him for days.

“Oh! I wasn't think about that!” He didn't like the color red anyway. “I was thinking about getting Taako and everyone else a Candlenights gift. Merle might like a Pan themed tea set o-or a new bible or a box of marzipan. Honestly I don't know what Merle likes very much because all he does when we’re together is bully me a little and do old people things like- I'm rambling aren't I?” He internally berated himself for running his mouth and possibly spilling information. Good detectives always keep a tight lid on what they know and if he's not a good detective then what _is_ he?

“That's a splendid idea, Angus.” The Director’s eyes light up. “Why, we’re in the perfect place to get gifts. I wonder why I didn't think of it first.” She ruffles his hair (his hat, really) and knows exactly why she didn't think of that. Today was about Angus and the looking glass. For once in her life she was setting everything else aside.

The two wander into a general store that's bursting at the seams. Dozens of mismatched shelves are loosely organized into tightly packed rows and overflowing with knick knacks and antiques. The front half of the store is a little more open, with more mismatched tables displaying loosely themed items. Jewelry on one table, tea sets on another, and even more tables displaying books, headdresses and scarves, toys and model sets, anything one could dream of to gift on Candlenights.

Lucretia and Angus wordlessly part to find gifts for each other and for their more beloved co-workers. (After the stunt the Tres Horny Boys pulled off today, Lucretia buys them nothing but used socks for Candlenights.) She’s busy picking out a hat for Johann when Angus comes up to her and asks “What's your favorite animal?”

“My favorite animal? Well, I’d say...” She flips through various memories, looking for an animal that held special significance in her life. There was that time she was attacked by bears. Or jellyfish, since the voidfish was a jellyfish. Or-

“Dragonflies. My favorite animal is the dragonfly.”

“Thank you!” He turns to run back to whatever display caught his eye, only to feel a strong hand on his shoulder.

“What's yours?”

“Rabbits. I always wanted one growing up -or any pet, really- but my mom was allergic to fur and...” He trails off and the hand on his shoulder relaxes, allowing him to scurry away to whatever display caught his eye.

The Director picks out a classy blue hat for Johann to counteract the increasingly ridiculous holiday hats that had been shoved on his head the the last month. For Avi, a flask with an ominous warning about drinking on the job, self warming slippers for Davenport, and couples’ sweaters for Killian and Carey. As she was heading to the cash register, she feels a tug on her coat and hears a voice behind her..

“Kneel down and bow your head.” It's Angus, clutching something tightly.

“Finally found something?” She says with a smile, bowing her head and closing her eyes as he came forward and put something in her hair. As soon as he pulls away she rises, touching the metal object and trying to figure out what it was.

“Happy early Candlenights! Don't look at it until we find the mirror!” Angus is beaming as Lucretia ruffles his hair, asking how he figured out the true purpose of their day trip.

“Well, we're in the same town that two seekers just got kicked out of after finding a magic looking glass. Even a not-genius could figure that one out!”

“I suppose so.” Damn that kid. “Since my secret’s out anyway, let’s head to the shop as soon as we’re done here.” Angus immediately offers to carry everything for her, and she has no trouble handing it to him. (Except for some pain her back. Bending down was getting harder and harder these days.)

Once everything is paid for and stuffed into Angus’s bag of holding they head for the antiques store the mirror was reportedly for sale in.

The building itself hovered on the edge of town and could easily be mistaken  for an abandoned building if not for the ‘sign’ (it’s just a log someone carved letters into) that read ‘MARIE AND CO.’S MARVELOUS CURIOSITIES AND ANTIQUES’. It hugged a massive oak tree choked by ivy, while the house itself was wrapped up in a coat of wisteria. The roof sagged to one side, several tiles had fallen off, and snow snow seeped into the holes while light from a fireplace bloomed out. What little of the walls that could be seen looked water damaged and precarious, as if they’d slide right off the building without their floral support system. The porch was riddled with hastily patched holes and dirty junk. There was a single, pristine, white rocking chair by the door.

Angus freezes a few feet away, squeezing Lucretia’s hand and digging his heels in.

“Angus! What are you doing?” She’s jerked back by the sudden stop and whips around to face him.

“I don’t wanna go in there! It looks like it’ll fall right on us!” He whimpers, leaning away from the building as if it was about to roll over and crush him.

“Alright, Angus. Wait out here. I won’t be long.” Lucretia lets go of his hand and he immediately backpedals away from the building.

“Angus, if someone lives and works here it must be perfectly safe.” She starts walking towards the house.

“Uh... y-you’re right. I mean, people live in bad places all the time but if they’re in there it must be-”

She plants one foot on the front steps only for the wood to give out and send her tumbling, chest smacking into the rotten porch.

“Lucretia!” Instantly Angus is by her side, helping her up. “Do you need any healing?! I can show off a new spell I learned!”

“I’m fine, child.” She says breathlessly. “I just got the wind knocked out of me, is all.” Angus clings to her arm, determined to stay by her side in case the house hurts her again. They pick their way across the decayed boards and make it to the door. Lucretia attempts to use the door knocker, only for the rusty handle to come off in her hand.

“A-are you sure this is the place?” Angus asks. “Seems like it’s-”

“Come in.” A low voice intones from inside.

Angus lets out a yelp as the door swings open of its own accord and presses closer to Lucretia. She tosses away the rusty handle and rubs his head like one might rub a neko statue for luck before walking in. The inside of the ‘shop’ was shockingly empty, decorated with nothing but a roaring fireplace, a cast iron stove, and a dining table where an old man was sitting.

“What brings you to my humble home?” The man’s face was barely visible, as his eyebrows drooped over his eyes and his wildly bushy facial hair hid almost everything else.  

“Are you Marie?” Angus peeks out from behind Lucretia’s leg.

“Marie is out at the moment. I am Co.”

“We’re here about a certain mirror, Mr. Co.” Lucretia says. “The Tempus Looking Glass, more specifically.”

The old man seems to smile at the name, nodding his head slowly. “Ah, that is an awfully popular item today; two ruffians came in and gawked at it, then left without paying. Luckily though, a certain Madame Beatruce heard of the mirror and snapped it up as soon as she could. Expensive mirror, that mirror. Me and Marie’ll be eating cream for months.”

“Madame Beatruce? Who is she? May I enquire where she is? You see, that mirror is very important to-”

“Ah, you want to find her? Good luck, my dear, she lives on the top of the mountain in Beatruce Manor with all the other rich folk. We nicknamed that place 'Scrooge Village’ because they hide from all the happy townsfolk up there. You could take a carriage up, but it will cost you a pretty penny.” The old man lets out a dry rasp of a laugh and pours himself a cup of tea as the door creaks open again.

“Thank you, Mr. Co.” Lucretia says and turns to leave, Angus dragging her towards the door in a hurry. Once they’ve walked far enough away from the ‘shop’ Lucretia lets out an angry puff, pinching the bridge of her nose. “Setbacks. Of course. There’s always setbacks. Angus, you might not be there in time for your magic lesson today. I’m so sorry.”  
  
“It’s okay. It’s not like Taako and I ever get anything done at those lessons anyway.”


	3. Chapter 3

The old man wasn’t kidding about the price. But a little warning about how the citizens would react to their request to go to the Beatruce Manor would have been nice. All the local carriage rides rejected the pair outright. One old man even shouted at them to get out of his carriage when Lucretia said ‘To Beatruce Manor, please.’ In the end only a desperate looking farmer would take them up the mountain in an uncovered wagon filled with dirty hay, a harsh contrast to the colorful and richly decorated carriages on Main Street. Lucretia and Angus made the most of it regardless, wrapping up in a burlap tarp and trading stories over candied pecans and gingersnaps. 

“By then Taako was getting  _ really  _ irritated that I couldn’t cast Blink! I must have been down to my last spell slot when he just grabbed my hand and cast it on us both. I couldn’t see much since my glasses were still on the Ethereal Plane thanks to Taako’s prank but it was so cool! Then when we left the Ethereal Plane he told me to do exactly what he did and I did it! I was so proud of myself and so was Taako!” Agnus beamed as he recounted the story, the smile loosening up as he recounted the next part. “And then when I blinked back onto this plane I sort of...”

“Was this the time you ended up getting carried to the infirmary with a broken nose after smacking face first into that dumb sword Taako uses as a coat rack?” Lucretia asked, leaning closer. 

“...Yes. I thought you wouldn’t know.” 

“One of my most valuable detectives got hurt, of course I knew. And Taako thought it was funny how you passed out ‘like a pansy’ and told the entire base at dinner that night.” 

“What an asshole.”

“Indeed, it was a pretty assholeish move. Butter cookie?” She held out the treat and Angus took it without a word. 

“So...” Angus looks toward the freezing farmer. “How long until we’re there?”

“Few more hours.” The farmer groaned, snapping the reins of the oxen.

“Uuuuuugh... but we’ve already been traveling for four hours now!” The boy whined, draping himself over the side of the wagon.

“It’s a long way up, Angus, so it’s going to take a while to get up there. Just enjoy the ride while it lasts. We’re over halfway there, and I don’t think Madame Beatruce is going to make reclaiming the mirror easy.” Lucretia pulls another box of cookies out of Angus’s bag, then a book, and offers it out to him. “Maybe you can read while there’s still enough daylight. And get away from the edge before you fall right off, young man.” 

Angus pulled away  with a groan. “But I don’t wanna read right now,” He takes the book regardless, thumbing through the aged tome. “Besides, this book is-” 

Everyone goes quiet as the wagon stops, a distant rumbling sounding out far above them. “Shit!” The farmer shouts, yanking on the oxen’s reins. “Shit! Shit shit shit!” The oxen brayed as the farmer tried to make it turn on the narrow road. 

“Is everything alright?” Lucretia shoots to the front of the wagon as the farmer leaps down and grabs the ox by the horns, trying to force the animal to turn around. 

“Landslide! Avalanche! We’ve gotta get the hell out of here, now!” The farmer keeps on yanking on the ox’s horns, looking up the mountain slope as the rumbling got closer and closer. 

“Angus! Cast Levitate on the ox!” Lucretia snapped to action, grabbing her staff and casting Levitate on the wagon.

“What?!” Angus shot up, staring at Lucretia as the wagon began to float.

“Cast Levitate! Do it now!” She screamed, the rumble of snow and debris getting louder and louder as the avalanche tore down the mountainside. 

Angus leaned over the side of the wagon, concentrating on the ox. “I’m trying! It’s not working!”

“You have to! And you! Let go of the animal and get in here!” She jabbed her staff towards the farmer, gaze snapping from him to the approaching mass of snow. 

“I’m not ditching my ox!”

“NOW!” Lucretia leaned over the edge and smacked the man with her staff as Angus babbled in the background. “Climb into the wagon or die!” The man opened his mouth to argue, still staring up at her as snow swept the world out from under them, burying the trail under several feet of snow and everything turned white as massive clouds filled the air. Lucretia levitated the wagon higher, grimly staring at the spot where the man was. For several seconds there’s nothing but dead silence until Angus’s whine slowly permeates the air. 

“I’m so sorry! I’m so sorry! I-I- Lucretia, I’m so sorry! I tried! I-I honestly tried to cast it but I froze up and I couldn’t and I couldn’t save them and I’m the worst wizard ever I’m a failure I’m such a failure he DIEDbecauseofmeI’ma-” He curled up in a ball and clutched his head, the fog from his breath getting thicker and thicker as he began to hyperventilate. Lucretia could tell he was seconds from barreling headfirst into a panic attack.

“Angus.”

“-whydidn’tisavehimi’mtheworstizardever-”

“Angus, honey...”

“-can’tbeliveIlethimdiewhycouldn’tijustcastthatspellsit’ssodarnsimple-”  
  
“Angus!” Lucretia yells, kneeling him front of him. “Angus, relax. Look at me.” She grabs his now-wet chin and forces him to look at her, tears on his glasses and his cheeks. “Sometimes we can’t save everyone, Angus. Everyone at the Bureau gets used to it. Now, the important thing is to _not panic._ Panic will just make you stop thinking, and right now we have to think. That mirror- The Tempus Looking Glass- could be _tremendously_ dangerous if we don’t get to it before someone tries to use it, understand?” She keeps her tone even and calm, hoping the gravity of her words will pull him out of his personal crisis. “I know how you feel, I honestly do, Angus. But that has to wait until we’re back at the Bureau. Can you promise me you’ll stay calm until we're back?”

Angus sniffles, then tries to wipe away his tears. “I promise.” 

By then the flurries of snow had calmed down and Lucretia could dispel Levitation, casting Feather Fall instead so the wagon gently drifted into the snow. “Come on, pack up. We’ve got a lot of walking to do tonight.” She helps the boy to his feet and takes his hand, casting Light on her staff and wandering into the snowy evening with him by her side.


	4. Chapter 4

The duo had been following the old trail up the mountain for roughly an hour, and any light from the moon or stars was hidden under a thick layer of clouds. They hadn’t let a single snowflake loose yet, but the fear of a blizzard hung in the air nevertheless. The glow of Lucretia’s staff cast a soft light that the snow reflected ten times over, showing off its unblemished smoothness and the bushes and trees deprived of their leaves for the winter. The night air was just as pure, with no sound tainting it even as the wind gently blew and the ice encased branches clattered together in the breeze.

  
“What time is it?” Angus asked, pressing closer to Lucretia’s side.

  
She hands him her staff, rifling through her coat pockets until she finds a silver pocket watch. “5:39, my dear.”

  
“But it’s so dark already.” He hands her staff back and holds her hand again.

  
“Well, that’s what happens during winter on the planet, dear.”

  
“It never gets dark on the moon until at least nine.”

  
“You’ve been spending too much time on the moon, Angus; you’ve forgotten how the real world works.” She chuckles just as her cantrip runs out and mutters an oath under her breath, recasting the spell on her staff and continuing onward.

  
“I have not!” He says indignantly, squeezing her hand tighter as the light from her staff fades.

  
“Maybe it's a good thing I brought you down here. Had I waited too long, you might've forgotten what a season is.” Lucretia smirks as Angus balks, eyebrows knit from offense. He silently forgives her in record time, and clings closer to her as they trudge through the snow.

  
“How much further is it? I'm freezing!”

  
“We’re much slower than a wagon, and we were only halfway up when we started walking... we might not be there ‘til midnight or later.”

  
“That's almost six hours of walking! Can't we set up camp or something? Or call Avi and just go home and try again tomorrow?”

  
“No, Angus. This artifact could be very powerful and very dangerous if it fell into the wrong hands. Come hell or high water we’ve got to get it.” She sighs, stabbing her staff into the ground. “If you want to go home we can pause here while you call Avi.”

  
Angus reaches for his Stone of Farspeech without a second thought, fantasising about a warm bath and a crackling fire and fuzzy socks before he looks back up at Lucretia. The wind long ago whipped silver hairs into her face, providing a delicate frame for her exhausted expression and watery eyes. She hunches over her staff and clings to it with a tight grip, staring up the trail she still has miles left to trek. In that moment a vivid image pops into his mind of the morning sun crawling over the mountain trail, eventually shedding light over her staff stripped of its enchantment and carelessly strewn on the ground. Near the staff is Lucretia herself, half buried in the snow as her glazed-over eyes stare at the sunrise. Angus winces and puts his stone away as the thought replays itself in his head, walking back to her with his head bowed. “Er... on second thought, I don’t want to leave you..” Lucretia looks down at him and frowns, and he wonders if she can tell he’s worried. “After all, this was meant to be a trip for us, right?” He grins at her, and she grins back, ruffling his hat.

  
“Right. Since we’ve stopped already let’s have a snack. That lunch at the tavern was rather light and I’m famished.”  
They end up building a tiny fire under a grand pine tree and trying to cobble together a decent dinner out of nothing but baked goods and sweets. Lucretia ends up getting a stark reminder Angus is only ten when his ideal dinner is more sugar and candy than actual food. "Hey! I found a box of mini meat pies, that’s not candy!”

  
“Oh, alright, I’ll allow it.” She watches as he cracks open the box and hands her a couple of the treats, then spits out a stern ‘no’ when she notices his hand creeping toward a box of taffy.

  
“But they’re fruit!”

  
“They’re fruit flavored, darling. You need something filling if we’re going to get all the way up the mountain. Try something else.” Lucretia helps Angus go through each box in the bag of holding one by one, eventually cobbling together a meal of mini meat pies, croissants, honey soaked biscuits, and candied peaches (Lucretia barely approved of the last item).

  
“You know-” Angus says between bites of candied peach, “Seeing these meat pies reminded me of something that happened to me when I was really little.”

  
“Yes?” Lucretia looks on with interest.

  
“Well... when I was about five years old my parents took me into town on a supply run, and we went to the bakery. We knew we wouldn’t get back home in time for dinner so we got some meat pies and rolls for the trip back. I held the boxes and waited outside while my parents talked to the banker and...” He winces, recounting the memory. It's much more vivid now than any other time he’s recalled it.

  
“Is something wrong, Angus?”

  
“No. It’s just an unpleasant memory. Well, someone’s dog escaped and must have smelled the pies, because the next thing I know a massive dog barrels into me and starts trying to claw and bite open the box. I was really scared and started screaming and holding my arms up to defend myself until someone dragged me away.” He holds up his rightarm. “It bit me pretty bad, but it healed fast. You can’t see the scars anymore but I still really hate dogs. I’m always afraid they’re gonna eat me, even the tiny ones.”

  
“That does sounds terrifying. Luckily you’ll never see a single dog on the moon.” She winks and bites into a pie, reminding Angus to put down the candies peaches and pick up something else.  
“Did anything like that happen to you- you know, as a kid? You’ve probably gotten attacked a lot as an adventurer.” He wipes off his mouth and reaches for a croissant.

  
“No, not that I can recall... I did have a cousin who was thrown off a horse. They lived, but they weren’t quite the same after that. I was once attacked by a pack of wolves-” They didn’t even look like wolves. The Wonderland elves could call those things ‘wolves’ all day long and Lucretia would never believe them. What kind of wolf has seven rows of teeth and a twenty foot long neck? 

  
“And?” Angus leaned closer. “Was it bad? You trailed off.”

  
Lucretia’s head snaps up and she takes a bite of food to try to recover. “Oh, no. It was... fine. It was alright. I survived, after all.” She honestly didn’t expect to survive. Of all the rooms in Wonderland that one still shook her to the core. She never wanted to see a beast remotely like those things ever again. The memory felt more vivid tonight than any other time she'd recounted it.

  
The rest of the meal was eaten in silence, save for musing about their co-workers and Lucretia gently reminding Angus to put down the sweets. “I believe I’ve caught Avi and Johan kissing in the Voidfish’s room, Angus. Mind doing some detective work for me?” She taps her nose. “After all we can't have employees misconducting themselves on duty.”

  
Angus taps his nose as well and winks. “That's not much of a mystery, but I'll do my best.” In a few minutes the duo is stuffed to the gills and warmed to the core, ready for the next leg of their journey. Just as the last box is tossed back into the bag of holding a feeling of dread washes over the pair. They both look to the path, trying to bury their apprehension down as deep as they can and hide it for each other’s sakes.

  
“Come, Angus.” Lucretia recasts Light and holds her head up high, one hand held out for the child. “It's just a simple walk.”


End file.
